Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, V1-120.
THOMPSON HARRIS was born 1784 in North Carolina. He came to Georgia about 1800 but whether his parents moved here at the time we cannot now say. He had a brother, Hampton Harris, and a sister Frances (called “Fannie”) who later married John Bennett; these were born in North Carolina and came to Georgia also.
Thompson Harris married Nancy Ursery about 1808 in Burke County, Georgia. After her death in the 1840s he remained a widower until sometime about 1855 when he married Mrs. Lavina West, a widow lady, whose daughter of the same name married his youngest son, Hampton. Mrs. Lavina West Harris was born in 1816 in this state. There were no children by the last marriage.
Not much is known of the early residence of Thompson Harris. It appears he and his family lived in Laurens County several years prior to 1825 when they moved to Appling County. After living there about twenty years, Thompson Harris with his sons William, George and Stogner and son-in-law Joseph L. Morgan, all moved to Lowndes County and settled on the east side of the Alapaha River in the present Stockton District of Lanier County. In 1850 they were cut into the new County of Clinch out of Lowndes. A few years later Thompson Harris returned to Appling County where he spent his last years, dying about 1866.
Thompson Harris was a skilled chair maker, also skilled in making many household items and farm tools, harness, wagons and carts. His reputation along these lines was well known for miles around where he lived.